Office block plan withdrawn
PLANS to convert a Runcorn office block into flats that did not meet minimum recommended size standards have been withdrawn.
The plans to turn Halton 5, formerly Grosvenor House, into 170 flats were due to be discussed by Halton Council on Monday.
But developer Empire Property Concepts withdrew its application on Friday evening.
The reason for the company withdrawing the application is not yet known, but the council’s highways authority had objected to the plans because the developer had failed to consider ‘the potential negative consequences that a development of this nature would have on both existing road users
● and/or future residents’.
The highways authority said the development would not be safely accessible to residents and did not provide sufficient parking for the 170 flats.
The proposed flats were a mix of one and two-bed apartments, but around a third did not meet the minimum floor space standards recommended by the Government.
The standards state new one-bed flats should have at least 37m2 of floor space while two-bed flats should have at least 61m2.
However, 30 of the proposed 118 one-bed flats and 26 of the proposed 42 two-bed flats at Halton 5 do not meet this standard.
If the developers intended each bedroom to be occupied by two people, then none of the flats would have met the minimum standards, which are higher for flats meant to be occupied by more people.
The standards, introduced in 2015, are not legally binding but provide a reference for local authorities that wish to incorporate space standards into their planning policies. Nor would they have given the council sufficient grounds to refuse the application.
The 1970s block, formerly known as Grosvenor House, used to be occupied by Halton Council but in recent years has stood mostly empty.
In 2015, a different developer was given permission to convert part of the building into 64 flats, but the work was not carried out.
Empire Property Concepts was approached for comment but did not reply by time of publication.